


An Anomaly in the Bookshop

by braezenkitty



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Aziraphale's Bookshop (Good Omens), M/M, Reading Aloud, Tea, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 17:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19835146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braezenkitty/pseuds/braezenkitty
Summary: Crowley comes upon an anomaly in Aziraphale's bookshop and, as is his wont, begins to ask questions.





	An Anomaly in the Bookshop

Crowley pushed through the door of A.Z. FELL AND Co., surprised to find it unlocked and the sign turned to “OPEN”.

A young woman with a bob colored an astonishing shade of greenish-blue stood at the counter, paperback in hand[1].

“I’m so sorry, that’s not actually for sale,” Aziraphale said, glancing furtively at Crowley and snatching the book out of the astonished girl’s hands. He cradled it close to his chest, hiding the cover.

“But—”

“Oh, dear, look at the time. We must be closing now.” He ushered the disappointed would be customer towards the door. Crowley grinned at her as she passed, and she frowned back.

“The nerve,” Aziraphale mumbled as he closed and locked the door behind her. He flipped the sign to “CLOSED” and pulled the blinds down over the windows. “Hello, Crowley,” he said, giving him a quick smile before moving to step past him.

“Hello, angel,” Crowley said, snagging the book out of Aziraphale’s hands before he could get very far. “What’s this? I didn’t know you sold paperbacks.”

“I don’t,” Aziraphale snapped, reaching for the book. Crowley held it up out of his reach, suddenly very interested in this anomaly. “I don’t even know how that got here,” Aziraphale said, avoiding Crowley’s eyes and wringing his hands together nervously.

“Sure,” Crowley said, squinting at Aziraphale, then the cover of the book, which featured a man’s naked chest. No head, just a torso[2]. Crowley raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Aziraphale. “Well, it certainly looks interesting,” he said with a smirk.

Aziraphale made another grab for the book but Crowley raised it up again, spinning away and walking quickly towards the back room while reading the summary out loud. “Miles has everything he needs in life, a quiet apartment, a decent job, great friends… the only thing he’s missing is a partner. At least according to his friends, who regularly set him up on blind dates. He wishes they would stop, because all he wants is his long time friend, and notorious rake, James. James is seemingly oblivious though, until after a night out, and quite a few drinks, he kisses Miles.”

Aziraphale sputtered, trying to grab the book by reaching over Crowley’s shoulders and around his waist, but Crowley had the longer limbs so it wasn’t difficult to keep it out of reach.

“Crowley,” Aziraphale said in an exasperated tone, “ _please_.”

“What’s the matter, angel?” Crowley said, smirking mischievously as he turned and handed the book back to Aziraphale. “Embarrassed?”

“Of course not,” Aziraphale said, snatching the book out of Crowley’s hand. He tucked the book into a drawer of his desk, still not meeting Crowley’s eyes. “Why would I be embarrassed about a book that got here by mistake? Somebody must have left it behind by accident. Tea?” he asked, walking into the small kitchenette.

“That would be lovely,” Crowley said distractedly, sneaking over to the desk and opening the drawer Aziraphale had just tossed the book into. He found a pile of paperbacks, covers all graced by similarly scantily clad people, men with their shirts ripped open and women in garments that struggled to hold in their ample assets. He picked up the one Aziraphale had dropped in and flipped through the well worn pages, stopping to read an excerpt.[3]

“Here we are,” Aziraphale said, stepping into the room with a tea tray and a smile. His smile faded when he noticed Crowley with the book and the open drawer. “Oh dear,” he said, setting the tray on the table. “I can explain.”

“I didn’t know you were a fan of the romance genre,” Crowley said, ruthlessly suppressing the blush that had spread over his cheeks.

“I'm not,” Aziraphale said, pouring tea into two cups.

“You're a terrible liar, angel.”

Aziraphale sighed, setting the teapot down. “Okay, fine. If you must know, I do read them occasionally.”

“Occasionally,” Crowley said, lifting an eyebrow as he took a cup of tea.

“Okay, maybe slightly more frequently than occasionally.”

“Huh,” Crowley said, a grin spreading over his face because after 6,000 years Aziraphale was still surprising him.

“If you’re going to judge me for it, you can just keep it to yourself,” Aziraphale said, sitting in an armchair and sipping his tea primly.

“Not judging, angel, just surprised.”

“What, just because I’m an angel I can’t enjoy reading about carnal pursuits?”

“No, no, of course not,” Crowley said. But that got him wondering. “So…” he said, drawing the word out and suppressing another blush that threatened to give away just how affected he was by the idea of Aziraphale enjoying romance novels. “Do you just enjoy reading about, you know, carnal pursuits?”

A blush spread over Aziraphale’s face and he sipped his tea again, staring at the floor. “I’ve uh, never actually had occasion to do anything but read about them.”

Unexpected relief flooded over Crowley. “Huh,” he repeated, glancing back at the book in his hand. “This one any good?”

Aziraphale smiled, pleased that Crowley wasn’t teasing him[4]. “It’s one of my favorites. Would you like to borrow it?”

Crowley glanced up at Aziraphale, eyebrows raised. “You’d loan out one of your favorite books?”

“Well, to you, yes.”

“Huh,” Crowley said, glancing back down at the book. He was curious and wanted to know what it was Aziraphale enjoyed so much about this particular book, but reading had never been one of his strong suits.[5] “Well, you know I don’t read.”

“I could… read it to you. If you’d like.”

“Uh…” Crowley hesitated, eyes flicking up to find Aziraphale sipping his tea serenely. Looking back down at the book in his hands, he imagined Aziraphale reading out loud the filthy things contained within. This time he couldn’t control the blush that set his whole body on fire.

“Or maybe that’s moving too fast,” Aziraphale said, glancing at Crowley quickly, then back at his tea.

“No,” Crowley blurted out. “I mean, it’s not. It’s fine. Tickety boo,” he said with a cheeky grin. Aziraphale glared at him. “Here,” he said, thrusting the book towards Aziraphale.

Aziraphale took the book, setting his teacup down on the table. He put his glasses on and opened to the first page, clearing his throat. Crowley sank onto the couch next to him, promptly changing into his snake form[6] and curling up, head coming to rest on Aziraphale’s shoulder. Aziraphale smiled softly, wiggling slightly to sink further into the cushy couch, and began to read.

**Author's Note:**

> 1Crowley couldn’t remember ever seeing a paperback book in Aziraphale’s shop before. Usually the angel went in for hardcover books, rare editions, that sort of thing. [ return to text ]
> 
> 2A very muscular torso with rippling abs, golden tan skin, and what looked like a slight sheen of sweat. [ return to text ]
> 
> 3Demons weren’t technically supposed to blush, but Crowley’s cheeks blazed like the hottest hellfire at the explicit words. [ return to text ]
> 
> 4Also, if he was being honest, pleased to be given a chance to share something he enjoyed with the person, er, demon, he liked best. [ return to text ]
> 
> 5Snake eyes, after all, were not made for reading and focusing on the tiny print tended to give Crowley headaches. [ return to text ]
> 
> 6The better to hide his inevitable blushing. [ return to text ]


End file.
